BATON ROUGE – A Baton Rouge judge ruled Friday that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education complied with all requirements of a state law directing the board to adopt tougher standards when it adopted Common Core.

Judge Tim Kelley rejected the plea of 17 state lawmakers to temporarily halt implementation of Common Core and then argue in court whether BESE should have go through the steps required by the Administrative Procedures Act in re-adopting the standards.

Plaintiffs' attorney Dan Brenner of Alexandria argued that when the Legislature doesn't require Administrative Procedures Act compliance, it says so in legislation. Just because it didn't specifically say BESE had to follow it doesn't mean it meant for the APA not to be used.

"This is not about Common Core," he said. "We just want to decide whether it was appropriately adopted. If it wasn't, go back and follow procedures."

Brenner said he couldn't accept the argument of BESE and the Department of Education that "they didn't tell us to specifically follow the law, so we didn't have to do it."

In his ruling, Kelley said that after reading the statute passed in 2010 calling for higher standards and an amended version passed in 2012, "the Legislature specifically intended to remove the requirement of the Administrative Procedures Act."

He also cautioned that should the legislators be able to prove that the APA should have been followed in 2010, there's a two-year limit on filing complaints that the act was violated. That window closed in July 2012 and the lawsuit was filed in July of this year.

"The amendment of 2012 did not alter that," Kelley said.

Brenner argued that since Common Core is still being implemented, the two-year limitation should not be applied.

Kelley said it's the adoption of the standards, not the implementation, which the APA would affect.

Although he indicated that he saw no evidence pointing to the possible success of the lawsuit seeking to throw out Common Core and force BESE to hold administrative hearings, Kelley did not throw out the suit.

He said the plaintiffs failed to show the need for a temporary injunction and that there was not a showing of likelihood of success in proving their case, but they might with further filings.

"Clearly, this is not the end of the case," he said. "Clearly, additional evidence may show a permanent injunction is required."

Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Moss Bluff, said "Naturally, we're disappointed in the ruling. We'll visit with each other on how we move forward from this point."

Asked if the lawsuit might continue, he said, "Until we discuss among ourselves what the judge gave us to digest, it's hard to say at this point."

Geymann was joined in court by fellow Reps. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria; Rogers Pope, R-Denham Springs; and Kenny Havard, R-Jackson. Several legislative staff members and regular watchers of BESE meetings also were in court.

The lawmakers previously tried but failed to get the Legislature to overturn Common Core and adopt other standards. They filed suit in July claiming BESE illegally adopted the standards.

Superintendent of Education John White testified that although he was not superintendent when BESE adopted Common Core, he is aware that the administrative process was not used. He said the Legislature did not require it in the act calling for new standards.

While testifying, White called Common Core "aspirational benchmarks," not rules that would require using the act. "These are expectations. They are what you hope to achieve over time. Teaching is an evolutionary process and you're always evolving."

BESE follows the APA when it adopts rules affecting schools, he and President Chas Roemer told the court.

"Today's ruling allows teachers and students to continue raising expectations in Louisiana," White said after being in court. "Our students are just as smart and capable as any in America. We've been working for four years to teach them to the highest standards in our country. Today's ruling continues that progress."

Barry Erwin, president of the Council for a Better Louisiana, said "CABL is very pleased with the outcome of today's hearing in the lawsuit brought by a group of anti-Common Core legislators. The judge's ruling was very strong and unequivocal. From the evidence presented in court, it was very clear to Judge Kelley that BESE followed the law in every aspect of the adoption and implementation of Common Core that was being challenged in the lawsuit.

"Even though this was only one ruling in one case, it's good news for the parents, teachers and students of Louisiana who now know that this effort by a small group of legislators who oppose the higher academic standards in place in our schools will not disrupt the education of our children," Erwin said. "It is also worth noting that after weeks of vague allegations about wrongdoing by BESE and the Department of Education, the first case brought in an attempt to prove those allegations was all but slam dunked out of court. That's why CABL has believed all along that these matters rightly belong in a court of law and not the court of public relations where some have insisted on arguing them."

Kelley complimented the attorneys several times for the way they handled the case related to what he termed "a hot-button issue."

"You took what was a difficult, highly charged issue and cut it down to what it is, a legal issue," the judge said. "These are technical legal issues. It has nothing to do with the validity, non-validity, goodness or badness of Common Core. I don't want anyone to read anything into this."